by Nia Night
In other words, brutally.
I became lost in a storm of steel, of dark magic and golden light. Every movement was a risk, a gamble. We knew each other too well, Raidyn and I, had spent our childhoods exploiting and testing the other’s weaknesses. I knew the way she moved in battle like routine, and she spun and struck and parried because she knew my ways as well. It felt both familiar and strange, a dance I had done countless times before, but with a conclusion that would be truly final. The last time the two of us would dance this particular dance, sway to this song.
Long ago, when we were both still little more than children, Raidyn had guessed that it might one day come to this. I hadn’t taken her seriously at the time. I’d never thought she’d turn out to be right.
23
I stared down the field at my opponent, and the triumphant grin on her stupid face.
Abri stood to my left. The twins, Adira and Aadya flanking my rear, Suri backing them up. Raidyn and her team stood across from us, preparing to stop us from reaching the other end of the field by any means necessary.
In the stands around the field, the other students sat watching, wearing the respective colors of whichever team they’d professed allegiance to. Half of the stands wore blood red, like myself and my girls around me. The other half wore electric blue, like the bitches standing across from us.
Two white flags danced in the wind at opposite ends of the field, needing simultaneously to be defended and retrieved. Get through your opponents, capture their flag, don’t let them capture yours. The game was both brutal and simple, especially when being played by assassins in training, half Demon females who were being taught to fight and kill.
There were no weak players among us. The weaker students did not step foot on this field. The grass beneath our sole-spiked shoes had been nourished with the blood of those who’d come before us. Some had even taken their last breaths here. Flags was not a game for the faint of heart.
We held no weapons, our own bodies the only means with which to defend our flag and go after theirs. If we stepped out of the boundaries of the painted white lines in the grass, or were thrown out, we were out for the remainder of the game, which was both disgraceful and detrimental to your team.
I’d personally never been tossed out, nor had I stepped out of bounds. I’d bled plenty, though. We all had. One did not play three full Academy years of Flags without spilling their fair share of blood, both their own and that of others.
Today, I would make Raidyn and her team bleed.
From the look in her eyes, she was planning much the same.
The whistle blew, and we charged forward. The crowd erupted into cheers, the sound second only to the rushing of air in my ears. The twins and Suri remained in defensive positions as Abri and I tore down the field. Raidyn and Bearah barreled toward us. I cut to the right around Raidyn, knowing that my speed was an asset, while Abri locked into a battle of brute strength with Bearah.
Raidyn nearly intercepted me, her arm coming out for a clothesline that I ducked smoothly under before cutting back the other way. She gave chase, tackling me and snagging my ankle, taking me down, the grass and earth rising up to catch me.
The air knocked out of me, but I kicked, rolled, was able to get off my stomach and onto the more defensive position of being on my back before Raidyn was on me, raining blows down on my face.
I blocked the first few but took several to the throat, the jaw. Pain exploded where her fists struck, and the irony taste of blood filled my mouth. I choked on it as I bucked and backhanded the bitch hard enough to dislodge her, managing to scramble out from beneath her and to my feet.
Raidyn used this time to dart past me, going on the offensive. Now it was my turn to give chase, meaning to stop her before she reached my flag. My other teammates were each engaged in their own brutal battle, so if Raidyn got too far ahead of me, I could quickly lose us the game. Get the other team’s flag before they got yours. That was really the only rule.
Raidyn was fast, but I was faster, a fact we were both well aware of, and that I suspected was one of the reasons the bitch had always been so jealous of me. Jealousy was the only reason I could come up with as to why she seemed to hate me.
I ran as hard as I could, stretched my hand out in front of me, managed to grab the long blue braid attached to her stupid head, yanked hard as fuck. The sight of Raidyn’s head jerking back, of her eyes going wide as she fell backward, was as satisfying as taking a piss after holding it in for too long. I added a knee to her spine for good measure. Once she was on the ground, I kicked her three more times in the ribs.
Then I turned and took off toward her flag, satisfied that I could reach hers before she got to mine with the blows I’d just delivered.
The world flashed by on either side of me as I tore across the grass, the crowd growing louder as I drew closer and closer to the white flag. I spat out a wad of blood that tried to choke me, adrenaline coursing through my veins like a drug. I could feel that Raidyn had started to give chase behind me, but knew in my gut that she was too far back to stop me now.
Her teammates saw this, too, because they tried to disengage with their own opponents to intercept me. Bearah managed to pick Abri up and slam her down upon the ground hard enough to rattle my own teeth, and the Bear (the nickname the other students had given the monstrously sized female) came thundering after me. But she would be too slow, too. I was in my stride now, and none of them would be able to stop me.
Louder and louder, the crowd began to chant my name.
Ili! Ili! Ili! Ileeeee!
I was so close now, that white banner waving at me, the final two defenders too slow to stop me as I cut right, then left, then right again, making them trip over their own feet. I leapt up, extending my hand, the world moving in slow motion for a single heartbeat…
And closed my hand around the white flag.
My head spun as the crowd erupted, as the opposing team cursed and spat in anger, as the fighting on the field stopped as though flipped off by a switch. A bit of blood dribbled down my chin, but I was grinning from ear-to-ear.
I thrust my hand into the air, the flag flying at the end of it, and turned to meet my opponent’s eyes across the field.
Raidyn’s expression gave life to the phrase if looks could kill.
I was drunk as fuck. The way I always was after a victory. As students, we weren’t technically allowed to drink, but there was always a way to break into the stash the instructors kept around, and the Sisters tended to turn a blind eye when it came to the victors.
One did not steal from the stash if they lost Flags, however, because the Sisters did not believe in rewarding losers. Losers did not get sprinkles on their ice creams, nor alcohol in their bellies.
I liked being drunk. If I made it out of the hellhole that was the Academy, and back into the real world as a Sister, I reckoned I would spend most of the time I wasn’t working, drinking. I liked the way it made me not care about anything, the way it numbed the torment of worthless emotions that would try to sneak up on me every so often. Emotions served no purpose in the life I now lived, other than to make me miserable. Alcohol had the power to make them go away.
Stifling a giggle as I stumbled down the hall, making my way toward the dormitory, I had to grab the wall to steady myself. I’d gotten more drunk than I’d intended, and had a feeling I’d be losing the contents of my belly before the sun rose over the horizon.
But whatever. It had been worth it, and I’d earned it. Abri and the twins had partaken in the libations with me, and had snuck back to their beds a half hour before. I’d remained to finish off the bottle of moonshine, and could only pray that the drills we’d run tomorrow would be on the easier side, because I was going to be a hot ass mess come morning.
I was nearing the dormitory when I heard a sound behind a door I’d never gone through. In the three and a half years that I’d lived at the Academy, I’d done some exploring of the enormous grounds, but there were st
ill many places that were mysteries. I’d always assumed that the door in the hallway nearest the third year dormitory was a storage closet.
My curiosity pulled me toward it now. I glanced around, seeing nothing but shadows along the cold stone walls. With a stupid little grin on my face, I found that the door was unlocked, and peeked inside.
Instead of a storage closet, the door let in on a narrow staircase. Shutting the door behind me, I gripped the railing and started up, stumbling a bit in my drunken state. The stairway smelled of damp wood, and I was dizzy by the time I reached the top, blinking into the pale light of the moon peeking in through the tall windows.
“I could push you right now, and you would tumble down those steps and break your neck,” said a familiar voice from the shadows.
I snorted, stepping more into the attic-like space and removing myself from the stairwell. I certainly wouldn’t put the possibility past the speaker.
Raidyn sat upon a crate before the large windows that looked out over the school grounds, the moonlight making her blue hair appear almost silver. I grabbed one of the other crates in the tight space and plopped it down beside her, collapsing atop it and letting out a long sigh.
“I guess you could have,” I said. “But then who would you spend all your free time obsessing over?”
Raidyn looked at me from the corner of her eyes. “You’re drunk.”
“No shit.”
“Go away.”
I tilted my head, studying the view beyond the windows. I could see why she liked the spot. It was peaceful, and those kinds of places were difficult, if not impossible, to find at the Academy.
“Why do you hate me?” I asked, ignoring her command. “I mean, I really don’t give a shit what you think, but I’m curious. I’ve never done anything to you that I can recall.”
Raidyn stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Because everything is so much easier for you,” she said. “You’re her favorite.”
“Easier for me? I assure you, nothing has been easy for me, and I’m whose favorite?”
Raidyn rolled her eyes. “The Warden’s. She favors you. Always has.”
“You’ve lost your mind if you believe that. I’m pretty sure Warden Valda doesn’t like anyone.”
“Then why am I always getting in trouble for shit I’ve seen you do too, and you never get in trouble?”
I smirked. “Because you’re too dumb not to get caught.”
“You really believe you’re that clever, don’t you?” Raidyn eyed me, and then chuckled lowly. “You know what? I feel bad for you. You’re more naïve than I gave you credit for.”
The bitch was ruining my buzz. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said between tight teeth.
“Okay. You want examples? First year. We were both caught for stealing meat pies out of the kitchen, but who ended up doing doubles the next day at training?”
I dug through my muddled thoughts to recall this. Said nothing.
“Right,” Raidyn continued. “And last year, when a group of us snuck out to celebrate the Harvest Moon, how many lashings did you receive for that?”
I swallowed, biting my lip. I hadn’t received any.
“I received twenty,” she answered. “In fact, let me show you something.”
Before I knew what she was doing, she’d pulled my shirt off over my head, making me nearly tumble off my crate. I was about to sock her in the jaw when she removed her shirt as well, and turned so that I could see her back.
Her back, which was a mural of long, jagged, raised scars. Too many to count. There were a few of these scars on my back as well, but Raidyn’s… Gods. I’d had no idea.
Raidyn snorted as she took in the look on my face, as she saw that I finally understood.
“So I don’t hate you, Iliana,” she said quietly. “I hate your privilege, and the fact that you only just now became aware of it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. It sounded stupid, but I didn’t know what else to say.
“Don’t be,” Raidyn replied bitterly. “All of it is only making me stronger. One day, it might so happen that we meet each other in battle and there are no whistles to blow or Sisters to step in and stop it, and then we’ll see who the best really is. Then we’ll see who the Gods truly favor.”
24
A silver star whizzed by my head, so close that it trimmed a few stray hairs before embedding itself in the wall behind me.
I spun, lashed out with my blades, was blocked by Raidyn’s seraphs. Another star flew by, nicking my shoulder before I could twist out of the way, drawing the first of the blood that would spill here today.
I caught her with a kick to the shin. She returned it with a knee meant for my stomach, which I blocked with my forearm. I bent backward as one of her seraphs swiped for my throat, dropping and sweeping out my leg in an effort to knock her feet out from under her.
She kicked a lamp at me, and I batted it away, the ceramic crashing and shattering on the floor. I caught her wrist with one of my daggers, drawing blood and making her drop one of her seraphs.
She swung with the other blade, the deadly edge slicing through my thigh deep enough to make me grit my teeth. Our arms locked, a battle of strength as she tried to force her blade into me and I tried the same.
Raidyn brought her head forward fast, head-butting me in the nose and making stars burst behind my eyes. I stumbled back, dazed, blinking and managing to avoid another deadly sweep of her blade by a too-narrow margin.
I ducked and punched, my fist making contact with her stomach, knocking the wind out of her while her fist slid off my jaw. I tasted blood in my mouth, shaking my head to clear my vision.
On and on we went, each trying to get in the slice or blow that would swing the odds in our favor. Beside us, the Angel and the Demon engaged in their own dance, darkness and light cresting and colliding. The antique shop became a battlefield, littered with broken furniture and other various items, the sound of breaking things a soundtrack to the scene.
I slipped on something wet as Raidyn pressed forward, noticing with horror that it was a pool of Bella’s blood that I’d stepped in. I shoved this thought away so as to focus on the task at hand, catching Raidyn across the chest with my dagger, making her wince at the stab. Her fist connected with my jaw again, hard enough to rattle my brain. I spun to the side, planting my boot on the back of her knees, making her buckle and crash forward.
A flare of flames erupted from her fingertips, unable to burn me, of course, but bright enough to impair my vision for a moment. She found her feet in this time, and caught me in the shoulder with her seraph, the blade going deep enough to send an electric shock through me.
A triumphant smile lit up her face as she wrenched the seraph free and swung it sideways in an attempt to take off my head. The move was a fraction too slow, but fast enough to make me taste my own mortality. As I ducked, I drove my dagger into her right thigh, the blade going deep before I twisted it. Raidyn cried out, the sound half pain and half anger. The smell of magic and blood filled the air.
I pulled the dagger free and swiped toward her midsection, a move that had spilled many guts in the past, but she danced back, limping. Teeth gritted, she came for me again.
“You really gonna kill me, Raidyn?” I asked through panted breaths.
“Raidyn?” Ibrahim’s voice cut through the haze of battle.
Shit.
I had forgotten that Raidyn was the Sister who’d killed Ibrahim’s brother, that she was the one he was searching for.
This distraction cost the Demon. Kieran came for him, sword glinting in the soft light of the shop. It would have removed Ibrahim’s head, and despite the fact that I wasn’t at all sure why I should care, fire magic was flying from my fingertips before I had a chance to consider it.
The flames caught the Angel in the chest, knocking him back, saving Ibrahim from decapitation. This distraction also cost me as Raidyn lunged forward, only to be knocked back by a blast of dark magic.
My dagger sailed through the air, driving itself deep into Kieran’s chest before he could regain his footing. Just like with Demons, in order to kill an Angel, one had to still the heart, and my blade had come perilously close.
Ibrahim’s dark magic reached for Kieran, and I am not ashamed to admit that I reveled in the idea that the Angel would get what was coming to him. I was only ashamed of the fact that his betrayal had hurt me more than I would likely ever admit.
But Kieran may be a lying bastard, but he wasn’t an idiot. With that injury, the tides had turned out of his favor. He turned tail and took off out the door. Beyond the glass storefront, his white wings sprung free, and he shot up into the air, trailing shimmering blood as he went.
Raidyn would not be able to make her escape so easily.
She faced Ibrahim and I, adjusting her grip on the single seraph she still had a hold of, sensing the finality of the situation, but not attempting to run like her companion.
Sisters did not run, after all. If death came for us, we looked the bastard in the eyes, and smiled.
Raidyn did so now, and for reasons unknown to me, it broke my cold heart a little to see it.
“You killed my brother,” Ibrahim said, black eyes narrowed, dark magic rallying.
True to her nature, Raidyn shrugged, looking at the Demon King as though he were nothing at all. “I’ve killed many people,” she said.
I felt the emotion in the flare of dark magic that erupted from Ibrahim then, so potent it was. It wrapped around Raidyn’s throat so swiftly that even she could not avoid it. Her eyes bulged as Ibrahim’s magic tightened the grip, the air cut off from her lungs.
Her fingers clawed at the dark band around her throat, fire magic glowing hot at the tips of them. The flames blazed in the depths of her eyes, not strong enough to break Ibrahim’s hold. Not even close.
I’m not sure why I did what I did next, couldn’t explain the urge that came over me. Something about seeing the familiar fire magic slowly dying in her eyes, and finding myself there, or maybe the tattoo on the inside of her right wrist, or the way her booted feet kicked uselessly at the air as Ibrahim’s dark magic lifted her off the floor…